Why are cross country trains so crowded?

Last Sunday Cross Country withdrew the last of their fleet of HST 125 trains. So they are now even shorter of capacity, and have long been known for having very crowded trains, far too short for the numbers travelling.



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India has the second largest rail network in the world. That, combined with the fact that 23 million passengers a day ride its rails, help to explain why its trains are so overcrowded that you can often see passengers hanging out the side. Why are trains in India always overcrowded? There is a demand-supply imbalance.

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More and more people are travelling by train. On the busiest routes, the number of passengers is rising by approximately 5% per year. Due to the number of passengers, some trains can be very crowded, especially during morning and evening peak hours.

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While the US was a passenger train pioneer in the 19th century, after WWII, railways began to decline. The auto industry was booming, and Americans bought cars and houses in suburbs without rail connections. Highways (as well as aviation) became the focus of infrastructure spending, at the expense of rail.

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Passengers on trains in India will no longer be allowed to travel on the roof after the health and safety lobby stepped in to end the dangerous, and often deadly, commutes.

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Trains do not run faster at night, but sometimes night trains don't make as many stops at smaller cities and there's less interference from other services so they can complete a route in a bit less time.

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The Trans-Siberian is the longest passenger train in the world and travels across China, Mongolia, and the famous, beautiful Siberia. Have you ever considered cruising over 10,214 km for seven days and 20 hours, crossing two continents and a whopping eight time zones?

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According to the TSA, the busiest travel days of the year are usually the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

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Sit back, relax and enjoy complimentary refreshments. If you need to work on the move or just want to relax and watch the world go by, why not travel First Class? A First Class train ticket gives you the luxury of bigger seats, more space, and on most services, complimentary food and drinks.

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The numerous freight and passenger trains coursing through Chicago define the city as the nation's railroad hub.

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As of 2020, Texas was the U.S. state with the largest railroad mileage, reaching over 10,400 miles. It represented around 7.6 percent of the total mileage for the United States.

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In the AM peak it's the 2nd and 3rd carriages; in the PM peak it's the 3rd and 4th. In both, on average the last carriage is the least crowded. Obviously this will vary line-by-line, and even service-by-service.

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Busiest Train Stations in the United States
  • New York Penn Station. Pennsylvania Station is ranked as North America's busiest train station. ...
  • Grand Central Terminal. Grand Central Terminal is among the most prominent train stations in the country. ...
  • Jamaica Station. ...
  • Chicago Union Station. ...
  • Ogilvie Transportation Center.


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Illinois is at the center of the nation's rail network. It has a comprehensive rail network consisting of approximately 9,982 miles of railroad tracks, 7,792 of which are operated by Class I railroads – primarily BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad (UP).

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CLIMATEWIRE | The first U.S.-made high-speed bullet trains will start running as early as 2024 between Boston, New York and Washington, with the promise of cutting transportation emissions by attracting new rail passengers who now drive or fly.

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There are many reasons for this. There is limited service between cities (Amtrak says it runs 300 trains with about 87,000 passengers per day), freight is often prioritized over passenger service in the U.S., and trains and facilities are often outdated.

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